Press Releases

9. July 2008

New Specification for Embedded Computer Modules is Now Released

The Qseven™ Consortium publishes the official release of the Qseven embedded computer module specification

Deggendorf, Germany July 9, 2008 * * * The Qseven consortium has officially released and published version 1.0 of the Qseven specification. This now provides the ability for manufacturers of embedded computer modules to start their Qseven designs.

Qseven is unlike previous Computer-On-Modules (COM) standards due to its primary focus being directed towards mobile and ultra mobile applications. It defines fast serial differential interfaces such as PCI Express and Serial ATA but omits support for legacy interfaces like EIDE and PCI in order to provide ideal support for today as well as future CPU's and chipsets.

Qseven is the first COM standard that defines an integrative software interface. This Application Programming Interface (API) covers these important embedded features: Watchdog Timer, I²C Bus, LCD brightness control, BIOS user memory and system temperature. Qseven™ modules from different manufacturers can thus be easily exchanged without modifications to hardware or software.

The SDIO interface is also a new COM feature. Rugged and cheap SD-Cards can be used as bulk memory. Qseven defines an 8 Bit SDIO interface that is capable of supporting MMC 4.0 cards thereby providing a maximum data transition rate of 52 MByte/s. The Secure Digital Standard also enables other applications such as WLAN, Bluetooth, RFID, etc. while using the same card format.In total, the Qseven standard features a rich choice of interfaces:

4x PCI Express x1 Lanes

2x SATA

8x USB 2.0

1000BaseT Ethernet

SDIO 8 Bit

LVDS 2x 24 Bit

SDVO / HDMI / DisplayPort (shared)

HDA (High Definition Audio)

I²C Bus

LPC (Low Pin Count Bus)

Fan Control

Battery Management

5V Power (TDP max. 12 Watt)

Application Programming Interface (API)

The Qseven standard has been developed to utilize the latest low power technology in a small footprint form factor. Additionally, it defines battery management and a maximum power consumption of 12 Watts in order to enable mobile applications.

The Qseven specification, as well as more details,are freely available at www.Qseven-standard.org. Today the consortium already includes 14 members:

congatec AG

MSC Vertriebs GmbH

Seco s.r.l

ASEM S.p.A

DAVE Srl

Grossenbacher Systeme AG

Hectronik AB

IEI

Portwell, Inc.

Tranquilpc Ltd.

Contradata

Elektrosil GmbH

HSM Zamecki

Matrix Electronica

The specification is freely available and may be used without any license fees. Membership in the QSeven™ consortium is also free of charge. For more details, visit www.Qseven-standard.org.